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transform schooling as we know it, to help all students realise their
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Friday, July 15, 2016

Creative teacher readings; too much maths? too much data? unschooling and the myth of genius.

‘The argument in favor of all this is that the more we know about
how students are doing, the better we can target instruction and other
interventions. And sharing that information with parents and the community at
large is crucial. It can motivate big changes. It’s to serve equity and uphold
civil rights, say the latest Ed Department regulations, that states must “provide clear and
transparent information on critical measures of school quality and equity to
parents and community members.” But we’re also starting to hear more about what
might be lost when schools focus too much on data. Here are five arguments
against the excesses of data-driven instruction.’

‘Focusing on the wrong answers may seem counterintuitive to many,
but doing so helps teachers understand the disconnect between the right answer
and students’ common misconceptions. Talking through wrong answers has the
incredible ability to make teachers better educators and students less
frustrated and more receptive to the mountains of new information presented in
the classroom. In short, understanding the “wrong” answers leads to
learning that lasts.’

We’re teaching our
kids wrong: Steve Jobs and Bill Gates do not have the answers

This is a longish article, but don’t that put
you off.

‘A close look inside the classroom door suggests that in the past
150 years we have come to think, perhaps without realizing it, that the purpose
of education is to make money. Though going to school hugely increases a child’s
chance of earning a decent wage in adulthood, that fact need not, and should
not, define our thinking about what and how children should learn. Decent wages
may be a very desirable outcome of attending school. But that doesn’t mean that
money should be the goal of education or the measure of its success. Of course,
the skeptic might ask what harm there is in designating money as the purpose of
school. As it turns out, plenty.’

‘In a five-year study of primary school children in Singapore,
researchers found that children with controlling parents are more likely to be
overly critical of themselves, a problem that increases with age. Being too
hard on themselves also had long-term consequences: Children with high or
rising levels of self-criticalness reported more symptoms of depression or
anxiety.’

‘According to practitioners, unschooling is a learner-centered
pedagogy. Learners choose their own path based on interests throughout their
natural lives including, but not limited to natural play, household responsibilities,
work-based experiences, travel, family, social interactions, and family.

Unschooling is about one’s personal learning journey — operating on the premise
that the more personal the learning is, the more impactful it will be. By
design, unschooling questions the relevance of standard curriculum and
instructional approaches, as well as elements that will often impede learning
such as grading. In the end, unschooling practitioners would argue that the
self-directed learning approach truly prepares students for the real world
instead of a formal education.’

The myth of the young artistic genius is keeping us from pursuing
our passions

Never too old to learn…

‘A lot of us are experts at coming up with excuses not to pursue our
creative interests.“Do you know how old I’ll be by the time I learn to play the piano?” we
ask, imagining how foolish we’ll look stumbling over “Chopsticks.”Well,
we’ll be the same age if we don’t. There is no such thing as a person who is “too old” to be
creative.But “I’m too old” is something adults say in order to avoid the emotional
cost of the ego deflation involved in being a beginner.’

‘Here’s an apparent paradox: Most Americans have taken high school
mathematics, including geometry and algebra, yet a national survey found that
82 percent of adults could not compute the cost of a carpet when told its
dimensions and square-yard price.’

‘Hacker's central argument is that advanced mathematics
requirements, like algebra, trigonometry and calculus, are "a harsh and
senseless hurdle" keeping far too many Americans from completing their
educations and leading productive lives. He also maintains that there is no proof
for a STEM shortage or a skills gap; and that we should pursue
"numeracy" in education rather than mathematics knowledge.’

‘In all his years in education Terry said he had come to the
conclusion that the most important issue in education is
motivation.'Motivation', he said, 'is at the heart of learning.''Motivation',
he added, 'is far more important than the introduction of such things as National
Standards . This coming from an educationalist who has dedicated much of his
life to the testing of students achievements was worth hearing.’

‘Recently I received an e-mail from a student I hadn't heard of
since she was in my class in 1978. She wrote about how great it was to
experience the class and how

Student at right lower row

much all that we did has stayed with her over the
years. With this in mind I searched out something I wrote, at the time, for the
team of teachers I was leading. I was curious to see how much my ideas had
changed since then.’

‘Self managing is a 'key competency' both for the smooth running of
a inquiry based classroom and to develop vital life long learning capabilities.
As such it is highly related to future success. When students are 'self
managing' it allows teachers the time to work with students who need help.’